‘I heard the pops and I just ran’: New Orleans in shock after vehicle attack

Residents celebrating new year recall scrambling for cover as scenes unimaginable unfolded in the French Quarter

The silence on Bourbon Street told much of the story.

At the intersection that marks the centre of New Orleans's noisy tourist hub, lined with tall palm trees and towering hotels, the quiet on the morning of New Year's Day was broken only by yellow police tape fluttering in the light breeze and the occasional blare of sirens echoing on the road.